


Boring

by orphan_account



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Frerard, M/M, art store employee!Gerard, barista!Frank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-23
Updated: 2012-08-23
Packaged: 2017-11-12 18:10:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/494185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gerard Way was bored. He needed something to shake up his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boring

**Author's Note:**

> So i've written fics before, just not Frerard, so if this is bad, i'm sorry ‘︿’ It's a terribly generic story, in my opinion. Enjoy!

Gerard Way was bored. He was bored of his job, his hair, his life, his everything. Working at the art supply store, he was bored of helping clueless patrons and their kids. He was bored of helping people select frames for art that was clearly picked as meaningless decoration to a home. He was bored of restocking the Martha Stewart products time after time, seeing as every single person thought her products were the best money could buy, when in fact, they weren’t.  
Gerard was bored of his hair, which was currently dyed a medium brown shade. Months ago, he had tried growing it out, dying it black and putting random colors in the top section, but he grew bored of that too.  
He was bored of going home at the same time each night, turning on the TV and watching the same stupid programs. He was bored of eating the same brand of ramen noodles every day on his lunch break, and then eating the same discount brand of canned vegetables every night with the same discount brand of soup to go with it. Sometimes he switched it up, eating corn and tomato soup instead of his regular peas and chicken noodle. But it was still boring.  
Gerard liked his clothes, but they were boring, too. He was required to wear all black for his job, which wasn’t a bad thing. But wearing all black got boring. He would get yelled at for trying to sneak in a brightly colored pin or khaki pants.  
He would have gotten a piercing or tattoo, but it was out of the question. His fear of needles was ridiculous, and he couldn’t bear to get shots from the doctor.  
The only thing that wasn’t boring about Gerard was his art. He painted with vibrant shades of blue, red, purple, yellow, the works. He saw nature and he painted it. He saw movies and painted things that were based off of them. He sold these paintings, but not often. He wanted to keep something in his life that wasn’t boring.  
He needed something to shake up his life.  
*  
While working at the cash one day, something caught Gerard’s eye. Someone had just walked into the store, wearing a shirt that showed off heavily tattooed arms. The red on one of these tattoos was what had caught Gerard’s attention. It was vibrant, and the tattoo that it was a part of was beautiful. All of the tattoos were beautiful. Gerard sighed. He would never be able to decorate his body like that.  
“Excuse me?”  
The voice jolted Gerard out of a daydream. He looked up from where he was slouching on the counter and met the eyes of the person with the tattoos. He had brilliant hazel eyes, jet black hair and slight stubble littered his face. He also had piercings in his lip, nose, and ears that were stretched.  
“Um… Yes?” Gerard stumbled with his speech.  
“I was wondering if you guys sold vinyl decals? I tried asking someone in the aisles but they ignored me.” The guy sounded annoyed.  
“Yeah, they should, uh, they should be in aisle three. Sorry about the lack of help, man. The people who work here can be real assholes.”  
The guy smirked. “I can tell. Thanks…” He squinted. “Gerard.”  
Gerard automatically brought his hand to touch his nametag. “No problem. Just ask if you need anything else.”  
“Thanks.”  
The guy hadn’t even offered his name. He stalked off without a glance back at Gerard, who sighed. He probably wouldn’t see this mystery guy again. Still, he thought back to the red of his tattoo. Maybe the beauty store down the street would have a dye like that, he wondered.  
Ten minutes later, the tattooed man came back to his register, vinyl decals in hand. Gerard smiled and started to scan the items.  
“So,” the man leaned over the counter. “Why do you look so bored?”  
Gerard let out a tiny laugh. “It’s boring here. My life is boring.”  
“And why is that?”  
“I don’t know, man. Because I choose to live a boring life, I guess?”  
The man sighed. “Do you like it here?”  
“Not really. I mean, I get discounts on everything and that’s good because I’m a stereotypical starving artist. But I would like it better if the people who came here actually cared about art.”  
“I don’t know shit about art, I just needed that stuff for my guitar. But good on you for thinking that.”  
Gerard smiled again. “Music is art. It’s different art, but it’s still art.”  
“I guess.” It was silent for a few seconds while Gerard finished typing in the information for the items. “Do you like coffee?”  
“Excuse me?” The question had caught Gerard off guard.  
“I said, do you like coffee? I work at the Starbucks down the street. I can give you a free one or something if you come in, considering you were the only person who helped me here.”  
“Uh… Sure.”  
“Just ask for Frank if you don’t see me. I work until 10, if you’re off before then.”  
“I’ll come in, yeah.”  
“Awesome.”  
Gerard finished ringing up the order and watched as Frank walked away. He took a second to himself before turning to the next customer. This Frank guy was interesting. He wasn’t boring in the slightest.  
Gerard liked that.  
*  
At around 8, Gerard stepped into the Starbucks. It was conveniently located next to the beauty supply store, which was where Gerard was headed after he got his coffee. He stepped up to the counter, only to be greeted by a female barista, not Frank.  
“Um… Is Frank here?” he asked timidly.  
The barista, Lindsey, according to her nametag, rolled her eyes. “No. He just went for a smoke, but knowing him, he’ll be gone for an hour. Can I get you something in the meantime?”  
“Yeah, a, uh, vanilla latte? Please?”  
Gerard handed her the money required and went to wait. When he got his coffee and got ready to leave, he bumped into someone.  
“Oh, shit, I’m so-“  
“The guy from the art store!” he heard Frank exclaim. He looked up and saw Frank’s smiling face. “Did you get that for free?”  
“Gerard,” he mumbled. “And well, no, I-“  
“Fuck, I told Lindsey if some artsy looking guy came in here to give him the order for free. I can’t make her give you the money back, but come back tomorrow or something, ok? I’ll definitely remember you.”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
“Awesome!”  
Frank clapped Gerard on the back, which seemed weird considering he was quite shorter than Gerard. He heard Lindsey yelling at Frank about smoking and smiled to himself.  
*  
“What the fuck?”  
Gerard looked at his boss behind bored eyes. “Yes?”  
“Your hair?”  
Gerard self-consciously touched it. “What, did I miss a patch at the back?”  
“No, it’s fucking RED.”  
“I know.”  
His boss sighed. “Look, Gerard, don’t you think people won’t want to bring their kids here if the person helping them looks like someone spilled blood on their head?”  
Just as his boss said that, a woman came in with her daughter, who giggled and pointed at Gerard’s head. “Pretty colors!” the girl squealed.  
Gerard smirked at his boss. “Well?”  
“Just don’t dye it blue.”  
“I had no desire to, man.”  
His boss smirked. “It looks ok.”  
“Thanks.”  
His boss turned and went to bother some other employee while Gerard looked on, smile still plastered on his face. That was at least one boring thing gone from his life. Last night, instead of the customary vegetables and soup for dinner, Gerard had attempted and succeeded at making some sort of tortilla thing. Well, he didn’t make it. He bought a dented box at the supermarket and heated it up. But it still counted, right?  
“Nice hair.”  
Gerard jolted out of his lounging position to see Frank, all cheerful and happy.  
“Hey, uh, thanks. Do you need any help with anything?”  
“Um, yeah. Lindsey sent me here to get some chalk or whatever. We ran out and she needs to do the sign for the special drink for today. I don’t understand why she possibly needs to make a new sign every single day, but still…”  
“It should be in aisle six, next to the children’s paints.”  
“Thanks, man.”  
Frank left, but was back a few minutes later with a concerned look on his face. “There’s a little kid there and she’s making fun of me. Can you come?”  
Gerard laughed. “Aren’t you a little old to care about that?”  
“I’m only 20!”  
“I’ll help you, sure.” Gerard couldn’t help but smile at the relief that crossed Frank’s face. “Did Lindsey say anything specific?”  
“She said just a cheap kind, but I don’t know, because the last ones I got for her broke…”  
“Then she needs actual chalks, not children’s chalks. They’re expensive, though.”  
“I think she can manage with the kids ones. I’ve seen her do crazy shit with them.”  
“Is she an artist then?”  
Frank looked down and smiled to himself. “Apparently she’s going to move to Los Angeles soon and get her own gallery. Either that or she’s just going to be a barista for the rest of her life.”  
“Good for her.”  
“Yeah…”  
Gerard helped Frank get the chalks, and they walked back to the cash. An angry line had formed while Gerard had been gone. He sighed.  
“You need to go to the back. I’m sorry, dude.”  
“It’s fine. More time on my break,” Frank smiled.  
Gerard helped the line of patrons and felt relieved when he saw Frank. “That’ll be five dollars,” he stated, scanning the box.  
“How old are you, anyway?” Frank asked. “I’m curious. You looked older yesterday.”  
“I’ll be 25 in April. Why?”  
“Shit, you’re way older than me!”  
“Is that a bad thing?”  
Frank smirked. “No. Most of the people I hang out with are older. Most of the guys I’ve dated have been older, too.”  
Gerard’s breath caught in his throat. “You’re gay?”  
“Such a big shock. You?”  
“Um, uh…”  
Frank laughed. “It’s no big deal if you don’t want to tell me. We’ve only talked for maybe a half hour, tops.”  
“No, I’m, uh, I’m gay. I’ve never met someone who’s so open about it, though.”  
“Me neither. Most of those guys were closet cases.”  
Gerard bagged the chalk silently and handed them to Frank. “Are you coming by the Starbucks later? I’ll wait to take my smoke break.”  
“I get off at eight,” Gerard said quietly. “I can’t exactly afford Starbucks every day.”  
“Nah, man, I understand. This one’s free, I told you that yesterday! See you!”  
Frank waved as he left, and Gerard couldn’t help but get caught up in his thoughts. He liked Frank. He could already see a friendship starting.  
*  
When Gerard walked into Starbucks later that night, he saw Frank taking orders, looking bored and silently judging each customer after they walked away from the counter. Gerard got into the long line of plastic mothers and uptight businessmen, silently waiting until he got to the front of the line.  
“Hi, what can I get you?” Frank said in monotone, not looking up from his cash register.  
“A grande vanilla latte.”  
“That’ll be three- oh, hey!” Frank exclaimed once he looked up. “That’s on the house.”  
“Thanks, Frank.”  
Gerard left listening to the protests from other customers. He smiled to himself, all the while thinking that he could get used to getting free coffee from attractive guys.  
*  
“So, what do you do besides make coffee?”  
Frank had come back to the art store yet again, just as he had every single day for the past week and a half. Most of the time he bought stupid things that he didn’t know how to use, like paint- “I can dye my hair with this, right?” or polymer clay- “I read you can bake it, so I’m just gonna bake the whole block of it and throw it at my neighbor’s cat, the fucker.”  
It was amusing, seeing Frank. He seemed very hyper, but on the days he wasn’t, he just looked slightly sick. For the past five days, Frank had just climbed behind the counter of the checkout to sit with Gerard, or if Gerard had to work the floor, Frank would tail behind him. His boss had found Frank sitting silently behind Gerard a few days before and hadn’t said a word. Good man.  
“I’m going to school, but I really don’t want to be there. It’s stupid. My parents told me they would pay for me to get my own apartment and have it be paid for in full if I went to business school, but I refused. It would be pussying out, I think.”  
“What do you study, then?”  
Frank smiled. “Classroom teaching. If getting into a band fails, I want to teach music.”  
“That’s great,” Gerard smiled.  
“And what about you?”  
“Well, as you can see, I currently work at the shittiest art store in all of the world.” Frank chuckled. “But I really want to get my stuff out there, you know? Get some stuff animated, maybe write a comic series. Who knows? I have plenty of time.”  
“Hey, when you’re a famous artist, I can brag that I knew you!”  
Gerard laughed. “When you’re a famous musician, I can brag that I knew you, too.”  
“Yeah, fat chance. I’m not good enough.”  
“I’m sure you are, Frank.” He saw the disbelief in Frank’s eyes. “Seriously. Do you know how many bullshitters there are in music these days? Do you know how bad some of the concerts I’ve been to have been? The guitars sounded fucking amazing on the record, but live, they suck. They could barely play. And these are huge names!”  
Frank scoffed. “I doubt it.”  
“Just don’t doubt yourself. Doing that is what got me into this kind of life.”  
“Sure, Gerard.”  
With that, Frank got up, hoisted himself over the counter and left. Gerard could see his hands shaking, and he looked pale. He hadn’t been like that a few minutes ago. They had barely known each other for two weeks, but Gerard already cared about Frank quite a bit.  
*  
“Sorry.”  
Gerard watched as Frank put a pot of red glitter on the checkout counter.  
“It’s fine, man. My question, though, is why the fuck do you need glitter?”  
Frank smiled weakly. “For hair dye.”  
Gerard laughed as he scanned the glitter. “You can’t dye your hair with glitter.”  
“Fuck, I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I bought bleach and red dye and stuff like that yesterday, and I was hoping you could help me with it? I thought putting glitter in the dye would make it look sweet, but I guess not.”  
He laughed again. “No, dude, that stuff isn’t skin safe. Besides, it would just wash out. But sure, I can help you.”  
“Awesome!” Frank beamed. “I get off at 10, but you knew that, so just come to the Starbucks and we can go to my place and do it! Well, dye my hair, I mean, yeah…” he rambled.  
“Will I need my car, or…?”  
“Nah, it’s literally two blocks away from this street. Not far. If you need a ride back, then I can give you one, but-“  
“I live like a block away from here, it’s cool.”  
Frank smiled goofily. “Awesome.”  
He hopped behind the counter and proceeded to chat about something random that Gerard couldn’t focus on. All he could see was the way the sunlight hit Frank’s hair, making it multiple shades of black and brown. He noticed that Frank had to dye his roots, and automatically touched his own hair, wondering if that needed to be done.  
“You ok, man?”  
“What, uh, yeah… Sorry about that, miss…” Gerard said quietly as he tended to the customer in front of him.  
“You’re such a dope,” Frank remarked after the customer had left.  
“I know.”  
*  
Later that night, Gerard walked into the Starbucks. He had went right after he got off from work, so he still had two hours to kill. He ordered from Lindsey, and then went to sit at a table near the window with his sketchbook and watercolor pencils in hand. He looked out the window and saw a streetlamp illuminating graffiti on the ground, and he decided to draw that, as well as the sunset slowly turning into darkness.  
“Gerard!” He looked up from his drawing. “Dude, it’s been like, two hours and you haven’t looked up once. What’s so interesting?”  
Gerard smiled at Frank. “Outside, man. The streetlamp. It’s cool.”  
“Cool. You wanna go now?”  
“Sure, I guess.”  
Frank smiled widely. “I got you a new coffee, by the way. That latte thing you got last time.”  
“Oh, thanks.”  
“No problem.”  
They slowly walked out of the Starbucks and along the two blocks it took to get to Frank’s apartment building. Gerard looked at it and laughed.  
“What?”  
“I live here!”  
“Seriously?!” Frank was over excited. “Why haven’t we ever seen each other? That’s fucking wicked!”  
“I don’t know, man, are you new to the place or something?”  
“Yeah, I just moved in last month.”  
Gerard smiled. “I guess we just haven’t crossed paths yet.”  
“Dude, that’s really cool. What floor?”  
“Second.”  
“Ah, I’m on the tenth. That’s probably why.”  
“Funny, I never saw moving trucks.”  
Frank sighed and pushed the button for the elevator. “I didn’t exactly need them. All I had fit into my truck, and it’s not like I needed a mattress, considering I have a blow up one. It’s not nice, but it isn’t bad either.”  
“You just sleep on a blow up mattress?”  
“Yeah, my parents wouldn’t let me take mine from their house. Said it was too much of a hassle, and besides, they needed it for the guest room.”  
“That’s sad.”  
“Could’ve been worse.”  
“I guess.”  
They got into the elevator once it came and went up to the tenth floor. Once they got there, they stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway leading to the right, and stopped at apartment 1023.  
“My humble abode,” Frank smiled as he opened the door.  
It wasn’t much. There was a kitchenette, a living room, and three doors.  
“Bathroom, bedroom, closet,” Frank pointed out. “You can keep on your shoes if you want.”  
“Sure.”  
“Do you want anything to drink?”  
Gerard shrugged off his coat. “No thanks. I still have the coffee from earlier.”  
“Then let’s dye my hair!” Frank exclaimed. He grabbed Gerard’s arm and dragged him into the bathroom, which was really only big enough for the two of them plus a small child, maybe.  
“So… This doesn’t have directions.”  
Gerard smiled and took the bleach from Frank. “Let me do it, ok?”  
“OK.”  
Gerard mixed the bleach and proceeded to apply it to the two shaved sides of Frank’s head.  
“It hurts,” Fran whined after five minutes.  
“Well, it’s on there for another half hour. Get used to it.”  
Frank scowled. They talked for the half hour until Frank complained about the pain yet again. He stuck his head under the sink, and Gerard helped him wash out the bleach.  
“It burns so bad, what the fuck,” Frank all but screamed.  
“Don’t worry, it’ll go away.”  
“How the fuck do you do this, oh my god…”  
“It’s not that bad, Frank.”  
“Yes, it is!”  
“Frank. Do you not remember that I did this two weeks ago? You didn’t even know me when I bleached the black out of my hair. And I had way longer hair than you have, so it was on for longer and it took a while. So yeah, stop bitching about it.”  
Once they had washed out all the bleach and shampooed Frank’s hair twice, “to get out all the bleach,” he had said (Gerard just assumed that Frank liked getting his head rubbed,) they moved onto the dye. Donning a pair of gloves, Gerard opened the tub and dipped his fingers into it, then proceeded to smear the red all over the now blonde hair.  
“Dude, that feels weird.”  
“Stop squirming, I’ll get it on your face. Haven’t you dyed your hair before?”  
Frank stopped. “Well, duh, can’t you see my roots? I forgot to get dye when I went to get this shit. But it’s ok. It’s just different, is all.”  
“The semi permanent stuff just feels like lotion to me.”  
“I don’t know, it’s like blood or something…”  
Gerard finished applying the dye to Frank’s head and stepped back to admire his work.  
“We’ll wash this off in another half hour, yeah?”  
“Yeah.”  
Frank looked kind of uneasy. It was weird, considering how good of a time they had been having up until that point.  
“Are you ok?” Gerard asked quietly.  
“Um, yeah, of course…”  
They were silent. “Are you sure, because-“  
“Fuck-“  
Frank lunged forward and planted his lips on Gerard’s, nearly knocking them both into the small tub. The kiss lasted a few seconds before Frank realized Gerard wasn’t responding and took a step back.  
“I, um…” Gerard coughed. “I have to get back to my apartment, I work early tomorrow. Just wash that off in twenty minutes, ok?”  
“Gerard, wai-“  
“Bye.”  
He opened the door quickly, then went out the front door and almost immediately into the elevator. Thankfully there was no one in there with him, because if they had seen him with his face buried in his hands, it would have been quite embarrassing. When the elevator got to his floor, he stepped out and went to his apartment, unlocked the door, and sighed. It was going to be a long night.  
*  
Gerard hadn’t been lying about working early the next day. He just didn’t imply that he had to work at 11 AM instead of 12, his usual time. Still, he hadn’t fallen asleep until five in the morning, and even then, he couldn’t stay asleep for more than a half hour at a time. He eventually had given up at nine, and started his morning routine, which was the same as it had been every single morning for the past few years. It was incredibly boring. He would get up, take a shower, scrub his face, and dry his hair. Then, he would brush his teeth, go into the kitchen and make coffee, and watch TV while it brewed. After that, he would make himself breakfast, which would be a choice between toast or a banana, or if he was really daring, toast with Nutella (a rare treat) and a banana on top of that.  
This morning, however, something was different. Once he went into the kitchen to start making his coffee, he noticed a note had been slipped under his door. He put on the coffee and then went to pick up the note.  
Sorry, it simply read.  
He knew it was from Frank. No one had to apologize to him besides Frank. He knew that Frank would definitely come into his work later that day and try to talk to him about it. He knew Frank would probably be blaming himself for what happened, and he didn’t need to be. The truth was that Gerard hadn’t been in a relationship for over a year. The last one had been with a man with greasy hair and an even greasier personality, and it hadn’t gone well. So it wasn’t as if he just didn’t want to be with Frank. He didn’t really want to be with anyone at all.  
At around 10:30, Gerard grabbed his bag that had his sketchpad and pencils in it, and left his house, only to bump into a sleeping person on his stoop.  
“Fuck off,” they said quietly.  
“Frank?”  
“Yes? Surprised?”  
Gerard sighed. “Why are you here?”  
“I found out your apartment number and wanted to talk to you before you left for work, but I guess I fell asleep.”  
“I kind of have to be at work in half an hour, so I would really appreciate it if you left.”  
“Look, I’m sorry, ok? I…” Frank sighed. “I really thought you liked me. I got a huge impression that you liked me. Even Lindsey said that you liked me. So I don’t know what to do, Gerard.”  
“Frank-“  
“No, listen to me!” he yelled. Gerard fell silent. “What, did you think I was copying you with the red hair thing? Am I too young for you? Is the fact that I want to actually do something in my life so scary to you? Just tell me what’s wrong!”  
“I have to go to work.”  
Gerard pushed past Frank, who just stood on Gerard’s welcome mat and let it happen.  
*  
Frank didn’t show up at the art store that day, and Gerard avoided the Starbucks. Frank didn’t go the next day, or the next day, or the day after that. He didn’t show up for about three weeks. And when he did show up at the art store, he looked sickly. His hair was greasy, he was pale, and his dark circles were almost pitch black. Gerard was working the floor that day, and hid when Frank came near the aisle he was in. He watched Frank as he wandered aimlessly through the aisles looking for him, and hid whenever Frank came near the aisles he was in. He saw Frank toy with certain things, then put them back and sigh. Finally, Frank went over to another employee of the store. Surely enough, Gerard heard the telltale crackle of the walkie talkie in his ear a few seconds later.  
“There’s this kid looking for you,” they said in monotone.  
“Tell them I’m not here.”  
It was silent for a few seconds. “I told him you were on lunch break, and he said he would be back in a half hour. Are you ok with that?”  
“Yeah, thanks.”  
Thus began the waiting game. Gerard assisted multiple people with their items, and before he knew it, the half hour was gone. He was stocking glass bottles on a shelf when he felt a tap on his shoulder.  
“Jesus-“ He almost dropped the case of bottles. “How can I help you?”  
“Um, do you, uh… Do you sell origami?”  
He looked down and smirked. “May I ask what you need origami for, Frank?”  
“Lindsey thinks it would be a good idea to put pinwheels on the windows considering that it’s almost Spring. She wanted to make them, I guess.”  
“That should be in aisle four.”  
“Thanks.” Frank made no attempt to move while Gerard continued to put the bottles on the shelf. “We really need to talk.”  
“About?”  
“What the fuck? Did you forget what happened?”  
“No,” Gerard sighed. “I just chose to ignore it.”  
“I… I know you’re working right now, but can you please come to Starbucks at around 10? You know that’s when I get off work.”  
Gerard finally looked at Frank. “I will.”  
“Thanks.”  
*  
10 PM came, and Gerard found himself staring at the window of Starbucks. True to her word, Lindsey had made pinwheels, and they were stuck in random places on the window. He heard the door jingle, and jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
“I got you a coffee.” It was only Frank. “The vanilla one you always got.”  
“Thank you.”  
Frank sighed. “Do you want to talk here or at one of our places?”  
“I guess here, unless someone isn’t ok with it.”  
“Nah, no one will mind.” They slowly walked inside and sat down at a table near the corner of the room. “So…”  
“I understand why you probably don’t like me anymore,” said Gerard sadly.  
“What?”  
“I probably really hurt your feelings, I get that.”  
“Gerard… I’m fine.”  
“Your appearance says otherwise.”  
Frank lowered his eyes. “I don’t look like this because of you.”  
“Really?”  
“Well, partly. One of my friends died, though.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
Frank sniffed. “No, it’s fine. We weren’t super close. He just got into an accident, is all.”  
“But he was your friend.”  
“Like I said, we weren’t very close. It’s just a culture shock.”  
“What happened?”  
Frank sat silently for a minute. “He was in a band, and they were touring around. They weren’t very popular. But one of the people in the band got so drunk and decided to drive. So they crashed, and my friend was the only one who died from it. They were supposed to play their last show the night after.”  
“That sounds terrible.”  
Frank wiped his cheeks. “It was. I was supposed to see them, you know, play a few songs with them. It never happened.”  
“Again, I’m really sorry.”  
“It’s fine.”  
“Are you sure you’re ok?”  
“No, not really.”  
Gerard sighed. “I can’t be with you.”  
“Why?”  
“It’s hard to explain.”  
“It probably isn’t.”  
“Do you really want to know?”  
Frank stared at him with wide eyes. “Of course I want to know! I wouldn’t have tried to talk to you if I didn’t!”  
“Well… My last relationship ended horribly. He was disgusting, that guy. He liked things that I didn’t and would force me to do certain things, like go get his weed from his dealer, or his beer from the fridge if he was too drunk or high to get up. So I’m not exactly ready for another one.”  
“How long ago was that?”  
“A year.”  
Frank looked angry. “It’s been a year, Gerard, shouldn’t you be over it by now?! How long has it been since you’ve actually been with a guy?”  
“Um… seven months?”  
“Just…” Frank wrung his hands. “Tell me if you ever even liked me. I’ll be fine if you say no.”  
“I can’t answer that.”  
“Jesus…” He got up. “You’re so fucking impossible. It’s like I’m doomed or something! The guy I really like can’t answer my questions, my friend fucking dies, I’m failing one of my courses, and it’s terrible!”  
“You’re failing a course?”  
Frank sighed and sat back down. “Yeah. And I can’t graduate without it.”  
“Oh, Frank…” Gerard grabbed his hands. “You’ll be ok.”  
“I really don’t think so.” He pulled his hands back. “I’m obviously a dumb piece of shit who’s unattractive and isn’t a good person. I’ll be leaving now.”  
“Frank-“  
He got up again. “I know tomorrow’s your day off. I’ll call in sick for work, and I don’t have any classes tomorrow. Come to my apartment, ok?”  
Gerard was silent. Frank sighed and left him alone at the table, where he sat in silence for a little while, sipping his latte. When he was done, Gerard stood up and left the Starbucks. He felt slightly ill at the thought of meeting and talking to Frank again.  
*  
The next, Gerard woke up with a sense of dread. He knew something was going to happen with Frank that day, and that it would change their relationship drastically. It had bothered Gerard ever since leaving the Starbucks the day before, so much that it had gotten to the point where he had gotten a massive headache and had to take medication for it.  
Still, he knew that it had to be done. It would give him and Frank the closure that they needed.  
So he went through his normal morning routine. Then he went into the hall, got the elevator, and went up to the tenth floor. He went up to Frank’s door and knocked firmly three times. Frank opened the door about a minute later.  
“For fuck’s sake, Gerard, it’s-“  
“Ten in the morning. Wouldn’t you have been awake at this time normally?”  
“Well, yeah, but-“  
“Put on some actual pants. I’ll wait.”  
Frank looked down at his legs. “Oh, sorry.”  
“It’s ok.”  
Gerard pushed past Frank and went into the living room, then sat down on the couch. A minute or so later, Frank emerged from his bedroom, wearing a proper shirt and jeans. He sat down next to Gerard, and they sat quiet for another minute.  
“Do you want coffee?” Frank asked timidly.  
“I’m fine. It’s probably not as good as Starbucks, anyways,” Gerard said with a smirk.  
“Oh, fuck off.”  
“That isn’t very ladylike of you.”  
“I’m not a lady, Gerard.” Frank cracked a weak smile.  
“Says you.”  
“Sure.” It was silent yet again. “So…”  
“Why am I here?”  
“Well, I wanted to talk to you, obviously.”  
“So talk.”  
Frank shifted slightly. “I’m sorry for kissing you. I’m so sorry if I messed everything up. I just really like you, and I want to be your friend, and if you don’t have the same feelings, that’s ok. I can go and find another person to be friends with. Everyone knows how much of a slut I can be when I want to.” Frank widened his eyes. “I mean, it’s not like I wanted to be friends with you so that we could fuck, that’s not it at all, I-“  
“It’s ok, Frank.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“It’s fine. We’re ok.”  
“We are?”  
“Yeah, we are.”  
“Good! Great!” Frank smiled widely.  
“Yeah. Great.”  
Frank scooted closer to Gerard and rested a hand on his thigh. “Is that ok?”  
“It’s fine.”  
He scooted even closer and rested his other hand on Gerard’s cheek. “Can I do this?”  
Gerard smiled widely, the sides of his eyes crinkling. “Yes.”  
“Fuck, I feel like a teenager.”  
“Well, you practically are one.”  
Frank laughed quietly. “I know.”  
Gerard closed the gap between them, pressing his lips firmly on Frank’s. Frank sighed and responded almost immediately, opening his lips slightly and pressing his tongue to Gerard’s teeth.  
They sat kissing for a minute, five minutes, 30 minutes, probably longer. All that mattered was that they were both there, together.  
After a while, they finally broke apart, grinning from ear to ear.  
“Do you want to go get some food?” Gerard asked.  
Frank nodded. “Starbucks?”  
“I thought you called in sick?”  
“Yeah, but there’s a bigger one a few streets away. I hope Lindsey won’t mind.”  
“I doubt it.” Gerard smiled and kissed Frank again.  
*  
“Hey, lovebird, get back to work!” Lindsey yelled, smiling.  
Frank sighed and detached himself from Gerard’s lips. “I am so sorry,” he said sadly.  
“It’s not your fault that I decided to come in here and seduce you,” Gerard smirked.  
“Yeah, well, it is my fault that I decided to pounce on you like a slut.”  
“Well, yeah, but I enjoyed it.”  
“FRANK!”  
“You should go back home, we can go to dinner or something when I get off.”  
Gerard kissed him lightly. “Go. I’ll be here.”  
“Seriously, it’s fine.”  
“You can go for a smoke in half an hour.”  
“But I just-“  
He kissed Frank again. “Go.”  
Frank sighed, and then smiled. He squeezed Gerard’s hand one last time and went back behind the counter.  
He took “smoke breaks” every half hour for the next two hours until his shift was done. In reality, those “smoke breaks” involved him and Gerard making out in the back alley for five minutes at a time until Lindsey yelled at Frank to get back to work.  
When his shift was done, he hung up his apron on one of the pegs and went to greet Gerard, who was in the middle of drinking his third vanilla latte of the night. He kissed the shell of Gerard’s ear quickly.  
“Let’s go.”  
They left the Starbucks and walked back to their apartment building, holding hands and chatting during the short walk there.  
“Did you find someone to buy your place yet?” Gerard asked quietly as they stepped into the building, and then into the elevator.  
“Yeah, I think so. I’m really sorry about not being able to help pay rent yet, this whole situation is just ridiculous.”  
“It’s fine.” He planted a short kiss on Frank’s lips. “We’re moving in together soon, that’s all that counts, right?”  
“Yeah. It is.”  
They exited the elevator and went down the hall, then entered Gerard’s apartment. Technically, it was their apartment, but not yet.  
“I don’t want to go out for dinner tonight, maybe tomorrow?” Gerard went into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. “Can we just do macaroni?”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
He got out a pot and the Kraft dinner, then filled the pot with water and put it on the stove to boil. He felt arms wrap around his middle and slight kisses on his back.  
“You’re wonderful.” Frank’s voice was muffled from his face being pressed to Gerard’s back.  
“So are you.” Gerard turned around and grabbed Frank around his middle.  
“I love you.”  
“I love you, too.”


End file.
